Letting All Hell Break Loose
by LALALALOVEmee
Summary: When Aira's mother remarries, she ends up moving in with her new family. It was all good until she saw who her new stepbrother would be - the epitome of Satan, AKA her professor. AU. OCxLevi
1. Special

**Standard Disclaimers Apply  
Rated T for language**

1\. Special

* * *

"Psst!"

No response.

"Aira!"

"…Mm…extra pepperoni please…"

"Pep-? Aira! Wake up!"

"Wha- Aira's awake! Class is interesting! Education, yes! Present!"

The whole lecture hall grew silent from her outburst while Eren and Armin face-palmed at their friend's embarrassing display.

"Is that so, _Aira_?" The professor's low and demeaning voice powered through the speakers.

When she was finally awake enough to process what had just happened, Aira couldn't help but join her friends in a face palm.

"No more interruptions or I'll be taking off 5% from everyone's final mark."

Not so surprisingly, many glares were shot at our heroine that day.

* * *

"Pfft, 'present'? He didn't even take attendance!" Eren clutched at his stomach, doubling over in laughter.

"It's not funny. It's only the first day and he's already threatening to take off marks! We're doomed!" Armin, always the more logical of the trio, shrieked.

"Lighten up, I'm sure it's just a hoax to get us all to shut up."

"Remember what Mikasa told us? This guy's the real deal. He's so strict he'll actually deduct marks for little things like that."

"Oh shit…well just _who_ do we have to blame for that?"

Aira didn't miss the accusing tone in Eren's voice.

"Um…" she smiled sheepishly. "Anyone up for pizza?"

* * *

Though her friends' anger towards her was just a joke, she couldn't say the same about everyone else in the class…and mind you, it was a pretty large class too. That's why it wasn't all that surprising when she entered the cafeteria and a number of eyes  
gravitated towards her.

She tried to ignore it. After all, it wasn't like she was a freshman anymore. In her second year, she shouldn't be so easily influenced by any of this… then again, no regular sophomore should have to go through this kind of attention.

What can she say? Aira was just special.

"Pepperoni please."

An achingly familiar voice sounded behind her. "With _extra_ pepperoni?"

She spun around so quickly, her hair ended up smacking her friends.

"Watch it!" Eren warned, coughing out a hairball.

But Aira didn't have time to argue with the brunetright now. After all, the spawn of Satan was standing in front of them.

"Professor Ackerman!" Armin greeted quickly.

He nodded to Armin, but then to her, he did something rather unbecoming of the reputedly cold professor. " _Aira."_

God, he remembered her name. (See? _Special._ )

"Uh…yeah?"

There was a hint of disgust in his voice. "Is this what you eat everyday?"

Was he…trying to make small talk? Or was he genuinely curious about her eating habits?

"Um…no? Kind of?"

He clicked his tongue, but before anyone could utter anything else, he turned around and left.

Eren was the first to break the silence. "That was weird."

"Yeah," Armin agreed.

They turned to the last one in their group to see what her reaction would be. They expected her to be the most confused of them all, but it looked like she was rather composed. If anything, she was more interested in her pizza right now.

When they arrived at the cashier to pay, the lady at the counter politely declined. "That man just now paid for your order," she said, motioning in the direction the professor had just left.

"OKAY, NOW IT'S JUST CREEPY," Eren shuddered.

"Aira…do you…know the professor? Like, _know_ know him?"

"No," she retorted outrageously. "It was my first time seeing him today!"

In all honesty, she found it extremely weird as well. She wouldn't go as far as calling it "creepy" per se… If anything, she found it rather flattering to have his attention. From what she's heard of him, Professor Ackerman was one of the youngest members  
in the faculty but he has had more successes and achievements than anyone else. Not to mention the fact that he was not one to socialize freely with students, so the fact that he had even batted an eyelash towards her today was outright shocking.

Special was an understatement for Aira at this point.

* * *

"How was school today, sweetie?" her mother asked. Maybe coming from other parents, this would have been a normal conversation starter. But in Aira's case, this was the complete opposite.

Her mother never cared about her education experience on a daily basis. She only cared about her final marks. This was owed to the fact that (despite her tendency to fall asleep in class and her constantly clueless personality) Aira was actually quite  
a smart child. So when her mother asked her that seemingly harmless question, warnings flagged up in her head.

"Why…?" she replied skeptically.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you met anyone _special_."

There was that word again... _special_.

"…No?" Unless a strange professor counted, she wouldn't say her day was anything out of the ordinary.

"Oh…perhaps you just haven't had the chance yet. Anyway, there's something I have been wanting to tell you for a while now."

She figured this would be serious if her mother had to use the "I have to tell you something" line instead of just saying it right off the bat. So she decided to sit down by the kitchen table and turn her full attention to her.

"I'm remarrying!"

"Wait- what?!" The chair seemed to prove useless as she merely stood up again, throwing the furniture back and knocking it to the floor loudly.

"You heard me. I'm remarrying. There's this _amazing_ guy I met a few months back. He's divorced too, and well…we just kind of connected!"

Her mind was still in the "what?" state, but her mother kept rambling on. "We'll be moving in with them this weekend. Oh my goodness, Aira, you're gonna love them so much! He has a son, you see. He's quite a bit older than you, but he's such a gentleman!  
I'm sure you two will get along perfectly! And well, I should have told you this sooner because he's actually a profes-"

Unfortunately by that time, Aira had already spaced out again.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading! Leave a review if you'd like! I know I'd like it. ;)


	2. Schedules

2\. Schedules

* * *

"Any questions?"

No one dared to raise their hand.

"Good. If you didn't understand today's material, you must be an idiot."

After lowering their self esteems, he dismissed the class - considerably earlier than yesterday too. There was at least 15 minutes left. No one complained though. Professor Ackerman was a good teacher, but there was just something so intimidating about him that made it difficult to stay in his presence for too long.

"Aira…" Armin sighed.

She was asleep - again. If this continued, he didn't know if she would pass the course. Granted Aira was surprisingly smart so maybe she would be able to manage. Note: book smart, but not street smart. Clearly, she possessed no survival instincts whatsoever or else she wouldn't have had the guts to fall asleep again.

They had been sneakier today. Instead of waking her up and risk making a scene, they decided to let her sleep. They sat in the middle too, so the professor wouldn't notice.

Now that class was over, it was time to wake her up. Hopefully, she would wake up before Professor Ackerman could see.

"Aira, wake up already," Eren nudged, lightly tapping her on the cheek.

"And what brats do we have here?"

Too late.

"Shi- Professor!" Eren saluted. "How are you doing?" He desperately tried to distract him as Armin moved to hide his view of the "sleeping beauty".

"Move it," he spat.

Dejected that they could do no more, and silently sending prayers on Aira's safety, they stepped aside.

"Aira," he spoke.

"Mmm…five more…" she murmured softly.

He crossed his arms, annoyance etched deep onto his face. "Minutes? No."

"…Hours…"

A narrow eye twitched. He turned to the two spectators. "Does she always sleep like a pig?"

"Unfortunately," Armin sighed. He couldn't believe the professor was still so calm.

"…Lasagna…"

A fine eyebrow arched at that.

"I guess that's our menu for today!" Eren joked. Aira's sleeptalking was always an inside joke amongst them. Though you'd think she was merely talking in her sleep, she somehow always dreamt about food…and would wake up craving for that same food.

"She's joining me for lunch today."

"What?" Eren and Armin blurted simultaneously.

"Wake her up and tell her to meet me in my office when she's hungry."

The pair stared at the man as if he had grown a second head.

"Your response?"

"Uh- Y-yes sir!"

After he left, the duo shared an incredulous look with each other.

"What the-"

"I don't know, Eren. I don't know."

"Hey, Aira!" the brunet called again, this time with much annoyance.

"Oh my goodness, what- Oh! …Good morning."

"Good morning my ass. You slept through class -again!"

"And Professor Ackerman asked to see you in his office when you're hungry," Armin added helpfully.

She blinked. Twice. "W _hat_?"

"That was our reaction too. Are you sure you don't know this guy?"

" _Yes_ , I'm abso-fucking-lutely sure." She was about to pack her stuff away when she realized she never took it out in the first place. What a scholar.

"Where are you going? It's like…only 10."

She glanced at them patiently. "Well, I'm hungry now."

She was halfway out the door when she sharply paused in her steps, causing Armin to smash into her back.

"Ow, wha-"

"…Where's his office?"

* * *

A whistle sounded behind him. "Such tough material on the second day? Your expectations know no bounds, my good sir."

He wisely ignored her.

"Hey, hey, hey. Do you wanna know what _I'm_ teaching in my anatomy class?"

Ignore.

"Heyyyy, do youuu?"

He continued to ignore her, and that was when the shoving started.

"Okay, what?"

"What what?"

Hanji did not miss the way Levi rolled his eyes. "Oh! Right. You'll never guess it...I'm teaching them anatomy!"

He promptly returned to his work.

"Levi-" She was interrupted by a quiet knock on the door. Interested on who would be suicidal enough to bother her friend so early in the morning (or at any time of the day for that matter), she crept to the door.

Bright startled eyes peered back at her.

"Oh hello, and what sweet thing do we have here?"

"Get out, Hanji," came Levi's sharp demand.

"I didn't know you had a little date. Why don't you introduce me to her, yeah?" At the mention of the word "date", the young girl shuffled back a good metre.

This did not go unnoticed by the man. "It's _not_ a date, now leave."

"Detention then? Wow, on the second day? You must be one heck of a troublemaker!" Hanji laughed freely as she ruffled the girl's hair on her way out.

She attempted to fix her hair back into place as she watched the woman skip down the hall, her obnoxiously loud footsteps a large contrast to the silence. When she was completely out of sight, Aira turned her attention back onto the professor, noting how focused he was on his work. Having not received any invitation to enter, she remained standing by the entrance.

It took about ten seconds for him to realize this, and when he finally did, he scowled. "What are you doing? Come in already."

She did as she was told, wondering why she was even here in the first place. Oh yeah, free food. Speaking of free food...

"Yesterday...you..."

"Are you inarticulate? Finish your sentence."

She pouted at his quick remark. She didn't want to thank him all that much anymore.

"Thanks," she managed to bite out only an awkward silence later.

He eyed her carefully. "You sure don't sound thankful."

"Well, you didn't really give me a choice. You had already paid for it!"

"You didn't have to eat it."

Her reply was immediate. "It's free food. Of course I'd eat it."

She thought he'd look disgusted again, like he had yesterday when she was ordering her pizza.

But he only smirked.

"And free food you will get. It's still early though, so later."

She wanted to tell him that she was hungry _now_ , but she had argued with him enough for today. She was already treading on dangerous grounds, so she didn't really feel the need to teether even closer to the edge.

Feeling out of place, she opted to distract herself by looking around his office...and boy was it a nice office. It was spacious - a little on the empty side, extremely tidy...but of what she could see, it matched her image of the professor perfectly.

"When's your next class?" he suddenly asked, though he hadn't looked up from his laptop.

"Uh..." She fumbled with her phone to look for her schedule. It was only the second day so he couldn't blame her for not knowing it off the top of her head. "At 6..."

"Hn," he acknowledged. "Schedules."

For once, she agreed. "Schedules."


	3. Treehouse

3\. "Treehouse"

* * *

For a good hour and a half, the only sounds in the room came from the flipping of pages, the tapping of laptop keys, and the occasional scuffling of feet accompanying a change in position.

Aira had finished reading the assigned pages from the textbook and filling out the corresponding homework questions, and was now copying the notes from Armin's lecture notes. Though Eren had kindly offered her his notes as well, she had "kindly" replied  
explaining how he was much less reliable than she was, even though she had been asleep in both classes. He in turn had "kindly" cussed at her.

As she was scribbling down the notes, she paused to let the information sink in. She wasn't at all surprised when she noticed some information that the textbook hadn't covered. It seemed very Professor-Ackerman-like to add more information than the course  
really needed.

"How studious of you, copying your classmate's notes."

The sarcasm was dripping from his voice.

She didn't take her eyes off the paper. "Yeah, yeah."

There was a short moment of silence before he spoke again.

"Any questions?"

Her eyebrow rose at that. Was he offering help? This coming from the guy that, just this morning, had called them idiots if they didn't understand the content?

Finished with the last slide, she put her pen down. She didn't have questions about the content per se…Armin's notes were always top notched - super organized and clear. And with Professor Ackerman as their teacher, Armin was bound to have caught a lot  
of good notes to jot down.

But there _was_ one thing Aira wanted to ask.

"Can we get food yet?"

* * *

After giving her what she was coming to recognize as his "signature smirk", he closed his laptop and urged her off her feet.

She was skeptical when it became clear that they were heading towards a parking lot, and though she tried not to show it, grew increasingly skeptical when they stopped in front of a car.

He reached for his keys and unlocked the vehicle in one swift movement, stepping in before she could react.

When she hesitated to follow, he rolled down the passenger window. His voice sounded from the opening.

"What the fuck are you waiting for? You don't expect me to open the door for you, do you?"

Her eye twitched in anger.

"I can open it myself, thank you very much."

With that said, she yanked the door open roughly.

"Wow, look at you. You can do it after all."

The twitch stayed for the whole ride.

* * *

"So…" she started after she swallowed a mouthful of pasta.

The only indication of him listening was a slight raise in an eyebrow.

"Why are you doing this?"

It seemed awkward to ask this now, but it had taken a lot of courage for Aira to speak up. That long amount of time was necessary to prepare herself.

She sat uncomfortably under his watchful gaze for a moment, and she straightened up when he opened his mouth to talk.

His phone decided to be a little bitch and rang right at that moment.

She slouched back down when it became clear that this call was more important than her getting an answer. Noticing her depressed state, he spoke up. "It amuses me that you still don't know. You'll just have to wait and see"

Before she could retort, he pressed the receive button and brought the device to his ear.

"What," he deadpanned.

 _"Uh- yeah, sorry to bother you on your little date right now, but um…there are these two brats here -and I assure you, they are absolutely adorable brats- but they're just standing here demanding their 'friend' back- Ow! Stop hitting me! I'll have you know I am_ the _Professor Hanji Zoë! Okay, fine fine. They're not demanding, sheesh. They are 'kindly asking' when you'll be back with their 'friend'."_

 _"P-please and thank you!"_ He heard one of them add in the back.

Their attempts to appease were amazing, really.

"Two brats…looks like your friends are looking for you," he relayed to her. "How responsible of them."

She didn't know if that was a compliment or not, but she grinned smugly anyway.

"We'll come back as soon as this slowpoke finishes eating."

"Hey! Who are you calling a-"

He pointed at her plate which was still half full. She then looked at his plate, which had been finished a good ten minutes ago. With a few more words, he ended the call and rested his cheek against his palm, watching her again.

"I'm not finishing it for you."

"I know, sheesh!"

She took a huge bite.

* * *

"Hey guys," she greeted with a grin as they approached the professor's office. The two were sitting against the wall outside the room, looking like lost children. It was kind of a funny sight.

"Air- Professor Ackerman! How nice to see-"

"Save it."

Armin wisely shut his mouth.

"I'll see you later," he told her casually before disappearing into his office.

"Uh…yeah." When she turned back to her friends, they were eyeing her intensely, probably expecting answers.

Too bad she got none.

"Let's go to the library. I want to get some reading done before my next class." She easily brushed past them, signalling the end of that conversation.

* * *

"Are you excited, sweetie? I know you are, just look at your face!"

She checked herself in her phone. She had her resting bitch face on as usual… she couldn't see what was so exciting about that.

"Aww, look at that face!" Her mother moved to squeeze her cheeks.

"Mom! Focus on the road!"

It was currently the weekend, and the two of them were driving over to her mom's fiancé's place…for now at least. Soon, the two would get married, and she would have to call the man her stepdad. She didn't know how she felt about that.

"You're gonna love the place!"

Oh yeah, she was moving in with them too.

It was all so much to take in…she _did_ space out when her mom mentioned it last time after all…

Not wanting to think about it any further, she decided to take a look out the window instead. Were they driving in a forest or something? The place was covered in trees, but other than that there wasn't anything else. Did this guy live in a tree?

"A treehouse maybe…"

"We're here!"

"I knew it, he lives in a tree."

"No, sweetie. That's rude. Look up ahead!"

So she did.

"Holy shi-"

A hand slapped over her lips before she could finish. Her mother braked abruptly (she would have been propelled forward if not for her mother's strong hand holding her in place) and spun her head in her direction slowly, reminding her eerily of every  
horror movie ever. "You better watch your language in front of them. I don't want your filthy mouth ruining this engagement."

She squeaked and quickly nodded, a muffled "Yes mommy" escaping her covered lips.

Her mother's eyes sparkled the next moment. "Great!"

* * *

The gate opened for them without either of them having to leave the car and talk to the guards. Apparently it wasn't her mother's first time here as she happily waved at the closest security guard. He waved back courteously.

They stopped the car at the main entrance and some guy dressed in a black uniform came to park it for them. ( _They have valet parking?!)_ They didn't have to walk alone for that long when the man himself came down the main stairs to greet  
them. Her mother quickly nudged her on the arm and told her to bow.

"In this day and age?" Aira whispered to her with disbelief.

"Just do it," she hissed back.

So reluctantly, she did.

"Oh, you don't have to do that now. Dear, do tell her to stop. Who bows to their own father in this day and age?" he spoke, though with a tone of amusement.

She flushed in embarrassment, slowly composing herself before lifting her head back up again. "I just want to thank you for making my mom happy." It wasn't a lie -her mother did seem noticeably jollier lately - but it was really just an excuse to cover  
up a mistake _her mother_ had made her make.

"She has brought me much happiness as well. You are so very well mannered…now if only my son was more like you…" he sighed. "Speaking of my son, where is he? I told him to be back by noon!"

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," her mother said.

"You're right. Let's go in first. He can join us in the gardens after. Come along now -Aira was your name, right? Your mother has told me so many great things about you!"

She tried smiling sweetly, but it probably just looked crooked and awkward. She didn't know what kind of false achievements her mother had told him (after all, if they're "great things" then they must have been lies.) Rather than walking with them, she  
trailed behind the merry couple instead, admiring the mansion - which was _definitely_ not a tree! It wasn't that she was avoiding the man - she just wasn't comfortable with the whole concept of having a new father yet. He did seem like a nice  
man though, so she knew it wouldn't be too awfully hard to view him as such.

Just then, a car rolled to a stop by the entrance she just came from.

She ignored it at first. It didn't have anything to do with her after all. Even if it was the son that she was supposed to meet, he would come and greet her eventually. She merely continued her musings on the mansion's decor instead, which was extremely  
grand and exquisite with those soft silky curtains, sparkling marble floors, and shining golden displays. The place was extremely tidy, so tidy that it automatically reminded her of a certain professor's office. She shook her head at that. Why the  
hell was she even thinking about him? All he did was treat her to a lunch...or two. That was probably normal behaviour for him...yeah.

But when a familiar voice spoke up behind her, she couldn't ignore it anymore.

"So nice to 'finally' meet you, _Aira_."

 _...What the_ "Fuck!"


	4. Bickering

4\. Bickering

* * *

Her mother was on her ass in under a second (which was impressive considering how far Aira had fallen behind).

"What did I say about minding your language?" she muttered quietly so that only she could hear. It was accompanied by a forceful smile, a smile that promised many bad things. Aira suppressed a shiver.

"Please excuse my daughter! She's just a little tired today, you see," rang her mother's sweet voice as she gripped her shoulders tightly, almost painfully so. "Aira, apologize."

"Why? He swears too," she informed, reminded of their car ride yesterday when he had cussed out a word or two.

"He is an adult."

"And _I'm_ not?"

"Not mentally."

She began to argue back when she paused. She didn't have a comeback for that one.

"Darn," she mumbled under her breath.

"That's what I thought," the older woman whispered to her. "Now apologize."

Trapped in her mother's hold, Aira sighed, glared at him, and mouthed a "Fuck you" so that only he could see.

He smirked at that.

Not without distaste, she mumbled, "I'm so sorry, _Professor Ackerman_."

The smirk did not leave. "Your apology has been accepted."

"Good! Now you two get to know each other and meet us in the gardens," she said, already halfway back to her fiancé.

When her mother was finally out of sight, she sighed again. "So this was what you meant."

"You really _are_ a slowpoke."

"No one told me!"

"She didn't say anything?"

"Nope."

He seemed to believe otherwise. "Really now?"

"Yes, she never told me any-"

" _He has a son, you see. He's quite a bit older than you, but he's such a gentleman! I'm sure you two will get along perfectly! And well, I should have told you this sooner because he's actually a profes-"_

"...Never mind."

Aira didn't even need to turn around to know he was sporting a smug smirk right about now.

"Well, I spaced out so I never heard the rest of it. I didn't know it was _you_."

He didn't reply, but she knew he understood.

For a while, he led her down the hallway in silence. She didn't mind; it wasn't like she had anything to talk about, so she took the chance to admire all the furniture and decor they passed by.

Something was nagging at her though. It was true that this place was tidy, but as she walked further down the hallway, she noticed that it grew increasingly ornamented…too ornamented to match a certain neat freak. "Do you live here?"

"No."

"Oh."

Well there goes that conversation starter.

They continued walking a little longer, but it didn't seem like they were going anywhere. "We're going to the garden, right?" she asked, a little uncertain.

When he didn't reply, she jogged up to catch up with him. "Hey, I asked you-"

"We're here."

She turned to see where "here" meant when she noticed a little sign next to the door. It certainly wasn't a garden, that was for sure.

"A library?"

"Congratulations. You can read. I knew this place would help."

His sarcasm was killing her.

"Are we going in?"

"No, I brought you all the way here so you can learn to read the sign. Yes of fucking course we are going in."

She rolled her eyes as he opened the door and led her inside.

It was extravagant enough that they even had a library in their house, but when she feasted her eyes on the capacity of the room, she couldn't stop her jaw from hitting the floor.

"Wow, you have so many books!" she exclaimed excitedly, eyes sparkling brightly. "Can I take a look at them?"

"Just don't damage them."

"I'll keep them in mint condition!"

She spent the next hour or two checking the whole place out. She tried out different corners of the room, tested out different seats from rocking chairs to antique couches, and even stared at the wallpaper for a good minute or two, tracing the patterns  
and seeing where they all ended up. She skimmed the whole library to see what kinds of books he had, and was pleased when she found a fiction section amidst the vast collections of research articles.

Better yet, they had a whole section on romance novels! Somehow, she doubted these books belonged to the professor or his father… perhaps they had belonged to Mrs. Ackerman then? When she finally settled on a good book, she sat down by the shelf and began  
reading.

She had been so absorbed in her little adventure that she didn't notice when he had sneaked up on her.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Holy cra-, what the hell?"

"It's the smallest section in the whole library, terribly hidden in the back, and yet you managed to find it."

He eyed the book she was holding, and more specifically on the page number she was on.

"You read quite a bit."

"Only when it's good," she replied, returning to the book.

They were engulfed in silence for a while longer, but it was when her focus finally returned that he interrupted her again.

"The course textbook must have been boring. You read it at a snail's pace."

"I finished the assigned reading yesterday!" she huffed.

"Oh?"

She nodded proudly, but her confidence was broken the next moment.

"Then let me assign more from now on."

"Please don't," she replied immediately with horror.

"Maybe if someone actually stays awake during the lectures, I'll consider it."

She sobered up a bit. "Now you're just asking for too much."

With their harmless bickering (though Aira would say otherwise since her workload was at stake here), neither of them noticedthe older couple eavesdropping.

Their voices were hushed. "They didn't come see us, so I thought they were protesting against our engagement…"

"They seem to have excellent chemistry."

"Maybe they've met at school before?"

"My son doesn't tell me anything these days, but that's the first I've seen him so relaxed."

"Aira seems to be having fun."

"Hm, I have an idea, dear."

She smiled. "I think I have the exact same idea."


	5. Dreadful

5\. Dreadful

* * *

Moving in to a new home doesn't really take that long when you have fifty workers doing the job for you. Aira was left standing awkwardly in the middle of a stampede of movers as they worked feverishly. Meanwhile, Mr. Ackerman was pointing left and right, directing the workers where to place what little furniture they were bringing along with them. Most of the furniture in their old house was ancient, so they had simply discarded those. However, some were worth keeping and those were the ones being brought into the Ackerman mansion today.

All of Aira's belongings could be easily fitted into her mother's car: her school bag and her clothes. She really didn't see the need in hiring all these movers.

Her new room had already been furnished with everything she needed anyway, so moving was an easy task for her. The only thing left to do was arrange her clothes into her closet - which was a huge walk-in space, more than she really needed. It was flattering of Mr. Ackerman to offer this room to her, but she just didn't have enough articles to fill the place up. He had mentioned something along the lines of teenage girls at her age being shopaholics, so a closet like this was an absolute necessity.

She was too darn picky to be a shopaholic though. Nothing seemed to fit right on her, so shopping was more of a chore. Still, she didn't have the heart to say no to Mr. Ackerman, so she quietly accepted what she was given.

She was in the middle of spreading out her clothes so it wouldn't look so empty when her mother popped in.

"Aira!"

She was using her outdoor voice, something she never had to use in their old place since everywhere was within earshot. Now, her mother had to yell to get her attention even though they were in the same room.

"In the closet!" she yelled back, hoping her mother heard her. When her mother's head poked out of the closet entrance a moment later, she turned to face her. "What's up?"

"Dinner time!"

She wasn't hungry yet but she couldn't show up late to her first dinner with Mr. Ackerman. She sighed. "Alright, I'll be there in a sec."

"Don't be late now."

"I won't."

She turned back to the shelves in her closet. They were still too empty for her liking. "Guess I'll finish it when I come back."

When she exited her room, her mother was no where in sight. It wasn't too much of a problem until she realized she had no idea where the dining room was. After all, Levi had only shown her the library. That, and she was the type to constantly get lost. "Maybe I should follow the scent of food..." She sniffed the air.

No luck.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Aira jumped, immediately spinning around. She could have sworn nobody was nearby when she had checked earlier, but here her professor was in all his cranky glory.

"I was...looking for the dining room."

He gave her a look that questioned her sanity. "Let's go then."

She nodded and gingerly followed him down the hall, trying to engrave the layout of the house into her mind.

(It didn't work. She instantly forgot every time she turned a corner.)

The delicious smell of freshly cooked food hit her nostrils long before they arrived. The dining room was brightly lit, with colourful decorations placed throughout. Plates of steaming hot food had already been placed on the long table, which was dressed with a pristine red table cloth. A servant had been pouring some wine into Mr. Ackerman's glass when they showed up.

"Ah, finally! We were just about to start without you two!"

"Sorry," Aira mumbled apologetically.

Her mother smiled forcefully in her seat. Aira gulped. She wasn't _that_ late, was she? She had underestimated the distance between her bedroom and the dining hall. And sheesh, it was only the first day!

"Well, it's great you're here. Sit down anywhere you'd like."

Levi had already sat down across from his father. Due to the sheer size of the table, she had many options on where she could sit. For some reason though, she found herself sitting snuggly beside the professor. At the moment, he was the one she felt most comfortable with. She had a feeling that sitting beside her mother would be a traumatic experience with the way she was eyeing her right now, and she was still not familiar with Mr. Ackerman.

The couple did not wait for the servants to serve the newcomers food before getting down to business.

"Your mother and I will be holding our wedding next weekend. Of course, your attendance is mandatory." This seemed to be targeted at Levi specifically, though she didn't really want to attend all that much either. Considering the influence this family seemed to have, there was definitely going to be a large wedding reception complete with the attendance of a group of big leaders she knew nothing about. Socializing was going to be a given, unless she hid under a snack table or something.

It was the worst place for someone as introverted as she was. She was dreading it already.

"But that's not all. We have more exciting news for you two," her mother spoke up.

"Exciting" typically meant "dreadful" in Aira's dictionary of her mother's vocabulary. She was not looking forward to what the woman had to say.

"You know how Levi lives alone in an apartment, yes? Well Aira, you'll be moving in with him!"

See? _Dreadful._


	6. Companionship

6\. Companionship 

* * *

Needless to say, the rest of dinner had been extremely uncomfortable for Aira.

Moving in- she was going to _live_ with her _professor_ for goodness sakes...was that even legal? Granted, they were both of legal age so there was nothing wrong there...

And it wasn't like there was anything illicit going on between the two of them, so theoretically it should be fine.

But it's _not_.

As soon as dinner was finished, she immediately gestured to her mother to follow her outside. Thankfully, the woman understood and excused herself from her lover.

"What were you thinking?" Aira hissed, aghast.

"Why? You don't like our decision?" Her mother blinked innocently.

"Well, obviously! You want me to live with my professor? Just let that settle in for a moment."

"We want you to live with your new _brother._ What's so unusual about that?"

"The fact that we're two grown adults who know nothing about each other? It won't work."

Her mother sighed. "That's troubling. We've already made the arrangements to have you moved out by tomorrow night."

"Tomorro- We literally _just_ moved in here!"

Her mother giggled, tapping the tip of Aira's nose lovingly. It did not earn a reaction from her. "Yes, and _you'_ _ll_ be moving out _again_! How fun!"

She did not see the fun in having to move again.

Having seemingly read her mind, her mother quickly continued. "It's not like you'll be the one doing the heavy duty work. The movers will help you with that."

It seemed like there was no room for arguing at this point.

"Don't give me that face, you'll have fun. It'll be like an extended sleepover, except with family."

"I don't really see him as family."

"Then it'll be a sleepover with your professor, so you two can study and do what nerds do together! How fun!" she repeated.

"Are you ever going to tell me why you put us together?"

"Hmmm..." she crossed her arms, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Probably not."

"And there's absolutely no way of arguing my way out of this?"

"Nope!"

Her mother's bright smile was like an unyielding wall, obnoxiously in your way and rooting you in place.

Aira sighed. Then there was only going to be one way out of this.

She would just have to figure out all of her professor's pet peeves and use them to her advantage, with the ultimate goal of getting kicked out from his place.

She had a lot of rebelling to do.

* * *

"You're crazy. That woman's crazy. You're all crazy."

His father sipped his tea calmly. "And Aira?"

"I said _all_ , didn't I?"

"Yes, yes you did. I can see why you'd think we're crazy, but why Aira? What did she ever do?"

Levi thought about it for a moment. "She dared to fall asleep in my class."

"Ah, she is immune to your threats then? How frightful indeed."

"I never said she was frightful."

There was a glimmer in his father's eyes as he smiled. "Of course."

They continued to sip the tea he had brewed. It was something both father and son enjoyed when they had the time, but it was a habit initially started by Mrs. Ackerman. Even now, when Levi pours the boiling hot water onto the tea leaves, the aroma still reminds him of his mother, though it has become much less painful. It was more of a distant memory now, gently playing at the back of his mind. Nothing more, nothing less.

He gathered the dishes and passed them to the maid, who had rushed from her position by the door when she noticed him cleaning up. She scurried off with the tea set, leaving the door open behind her. She appeared relatively new and untrained, and on a normal day this would have irritated him, but his mind was in a completely different place today.

"Why?" he asked his father.

"You need it."

"Need _what_? An immature brat to take care of?"

"And yet you don't protest against my decision," he smiled charmingly.

It was true. Though he had been calling his father crazy and questioning his motives, he has yet to reject the proposal of living with her.

"It makes no difference whether she's there or not. We're both busy with our schedules. We'll hardly even know the other person's there."

"She is quite the quiet child too."

"So then what's the point?"

"Well, as you said, to take care of an 'immature brat'." The way his father was evading his question told Levi that he would not be getting a true answer any time soon. From experience, he learned that this was the point where he should give up on pestering his father. There was the option of asking another day, but ever since he was a child, his father has always encouraged him to discover things himself.

He had a feeling that this was no exception.

"Fine, but if I say she's out, she's out."

"Warn her well and you won't have to."

"Oh I'll warn her alright." He already had a mental image of how he was going to incorporate Aira into his apartment suite. She had a history of not listening to him, but for both of their sakes, she'd better cooperate this time. He was not willing to tolerate anyone breaking _his_ rules in _his_ place.

Though he was an exceptional thinker, it did not cross his mind how his desire of getting Aira to cooperate could actually have been an indication of something more. It did, however, come across his father's mind.

After Levi exited the room, the older man sat back into the couch, letting his head rest on the cushioned padding. He contemplated telling his son for once (he had hidden enough things from his child for a whole lifetime), but seeing that he was always able to figure things out himself, he was tempted to keep quiet. If anything, this was something that he could only discover by himself. Telling him would not help, and maybe even be counterproductive if his son was stubborn enough.

He had always thought his son was lacking something. He had the intellect, the looks, the manners, and even the social skills - but only when they mattered in society. He has never seen or heard his son speak about personal matters, or in a personal tone. Heck, he didn't even know what a personal tone sounded like coming from Levi.

But witnessing that scene in the library earlier evoked an idea. Now, Mr. Ackerman was a well-off man. Part of it was owed to his parents' generation, but a fair part of it was owed to his own work in society. As such, excellent ideas were not uncommon coming from him.

However, he could easily call this idea his best one yet.

Awfully proud of himself (and his soon-to-be wife, he should say), he stood up from his position, immediately feeling the effects of a hearty dinner and a few full cups of tea in the pits of his stomach. Regardless, he spun around and stared into the darkness outside his window. There was nothing much to look at, since it was the same scenery he's been seeing every evening, but it seemed a lot more appealing tonight. In fact, looking around the room, the colours appeared warmer, more welcoming if that was possible. It must have been the knowledge that all his loved ones were finally under the same roof as him.

The skin around his eyes crinkled as he let a smile grace his lips.

"Companionship, Levi. That is what you need."


	7. Calls

7\. Calls

* * *

That evening, Aira felt the need to rant. Too much had happened this weekend - moving into her soon-to-be-father's place, finding out that it was actually her professor's father's place, and then being forced to move in with said professor himself! If she didn't tell _someone_ anytime soon, she was afraid she would just explode on Monday. Calls would need to be made - and pronto. Eren must have read her mind or something because not even a minute later, her phone rang with his name displayed across the screen.

"Eren, perfect tim-"

"Did you get question 8 on the calc assignment?"

She promptly dropped the call. Perhaps Armin would have been a better choice. With that in mind, she searched for her trusty blond friend's number and dialled him. The immediate beeping of the phone indicated that the line was currently busy, so she tried his home phone instead.

A familiar voice picked up two rings later. "Hello?"

"Hi Mrs. Arlert, it's Aira."

"Oh hi dear! Let me find Armin for you, just one sec."

After patiently waiting for a bit, she was rewarded with Armin's angelic voice.

"Aira?"

"Hey, why didn't you pick up your cell phone?"

"Eren," he sighed. She could somehow feel his stress through the phone.

"Man, he called you too?"

"He's still on the line actually."

"Question 8?"

"Yep."

"Ah yes, it was a bitch. Don't give it to him. Let him figure it out himself."

"Aira told me not to give you the answer, and that you have to figure it out yourself." The words were spoken so fast that they slurred. A click was heard before something crashed across the room.

"….Armin, what was that?"

"Don't worry about it. What's up?"

Oh, Eren would be absolutely furious with them - oh well.

"I just…wanted to talk, that's all."

"Alright, shoot."

"Well…remember how Professor Ackerman was all nice to me? I found out why."

"Why?" She could practically hear the excitement oozing from Armin.

"It turned out my mom is actually marrying the professor's dad. So I guess…I'm his step-sister?"

Aira had to temporarily pull her ear away from the phone when a loud crash resonated on the other side of the line.

"Oops, sorry. Dropped my phone."

"It's that surprising, right? Trust me, I'm still shook."

"Wow, this is so weird. I can't tell if it's weirder than seeing the professor offer to buy you food. So what now?"

"Well, I was originally going to move in with their whole family but my _lovely_ mother decided it would be better if I alone moved in with the professor…in a separate apartment."

Armin paused before asking, "Who else lives there?"

"I think…it's just him."

"Is that even legal?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

"Oh my god, Eren is going to freak."

"I'll tell him after he solves question 8. If we tell him now, I assure you he won't be able to focus on his homework."

"Fair enough. Try to hang in there for now and don't let him do anything perverted to you. Carry your phone on you at all times…and maybe go buy a taser too."

Armin's concerned recommendations sent a disgusted chill down her back. Just the thought of the professor doing _that_ to her did _not_ feel right. "Dude, I'm not gonna get raped."

"I know, but just for safe measure. I'll see you on Monday?"

"Yeah, I guess you will. Thanks for listening."

"What do you mean 'you guess-'"

She ended the call before he could overthink things any further. Sometimes, Armin could be such a worrywart, but it reassured her to know she had friends she could depend on. It felt much better getting it out. Now, she only had Eren to tell, but it really would do no good to tell him now. Maybe she could just tell him when she sees him on Monday. That way, at least Armin would be there for damage control.

Satisfied with her plan, she rolled out of bed to begin packing up everything she had just unpacked.

* * *

Staring worriedly at his home phone, Armin sighed. He knew that the professor wouldn't do anything _bad_ to her, and based off of how he treated her to food so many times, one might even say he would treat her _well_. But it still doesn't justify a man and a woman - not blood-related nor married- living under the same roof.

Just then, the phone rang in his hand again. He narrowed his eyes at the caller ID.

"What now?" he answered with a gruff voice.

"I still don't get it."

"I can't help you."

"Is that why you blocked me? My call wasn't connecting earlier."

Armin took a glance at his cell phone, which was currently lying on the floor by the wall. Upon examining it further, he noticed that the screen was cracked beyond repair. It wasn't turning on either. He must have been really annoyed with Eren earlier to have thrown it this hard. "Actually, I probably need a new cell phone again."

"That's like your third one since university started." Gee, he wondered why. "Anyway, help me."

"No can do. Aira forbade me."

"Why would she do that?"

"She wants you to use your own brain for once."

"But I can't. It's permanently disabled." There he goes again, making excuses.

"I tell you what. If you make an attempt to solve it until the end, even if it's wrong, Aira and I will tell you a secret."

"What? What are you two hiding from me? That's not fair! We've always shared secrets, come on!"

"It is fair. We both finished question 8 after all. This secret can only be revealed upon solving the question. We are even giving you an exemption. You don't even have to get it right - you just have to try solving it until the end. And remember: Show. Your. Work. Bye!"

"Wait, Arm-"

Well, that handles that.


End file.
